WHY THY?

So you already know the virtues of custom, but how do you wade through the myriad of 'Johnny Come Lately' custom builders? It?s a very confusing situation to be in. Do you go on recommendations? Do you just play safe and get whatever is popular? Do you freak out and just get whatever is cheap? (Heaven forbid!).

To prevent the possibility of you having a bad custom experience, we've outlined below five points that make us truly unique amongst custom bike companies.

1) CUSTOMER SERVICE

Many companies claim to be good at customer service, but then mess you around with price or leadtimes, or just simply don't respond to your e-mails. We couldn't be more different.
Regardless of where you are in the world, I personally respond to all incoming correspondence as soon as it hits my inbox. (Unless of course it's 3am and I'm asleep). We also lead the industry in transparency in that we'll never grossly underestimate how long something will take just to string you along. If something is 3 weeks away, we'll tell you four so that firstly you?re not disappointed, but secondly so that when things happen early you'll be stoked.

Some companies? customer service ends as soon as they get your deposit, but for us, what we're selling in reality is the experience of designing a custom bike together. That's something that you don't cut corners for.

2) CLIENT DESIGN PRESENTATIONS

For most custom companies, their idea of 'custom' is getting you to fill out a form, they design the frame based on that, send you a basic CAD drawing to which you make any ammendements and that's it.

A typical customer of ours on the otherhand will swap 30 e-mails with us and go through 3 Client Design Presentations (CDP).

It's the CDP's that set us apart. (click here for an example) Not only are they to scale and fully dimensioned, but they're full colour renderings that represent as close as possible what you will pull out of the box when you receive your frame. We're the only custom bike company that goes to this much trouble to make sure you know exactly what your getting.

3) A DESIGN FOUNDATION

Thylacine Cycles is unique in the custom frame market because we're a design company. Some newly established custom companies sell you a custom at rock bottom prices because they're essentially 'practicing' on you. Some custom companies are essentially compromised because they're primarily based on a single premise (eg: A welder who decided it might be cool to make frames, or an engineer who go bored of being a CAD jockey).

Thylacine Cycles is a unique blend of 21st century Industrial and Graphic Design and Artisanship. What this allows us to do is bring together the very best high quality niche fabricators, painters, decal makers, headbadge casters etc. etc., and through our lifelong love of cycling and design produce a frame that is truly unique where indeed the sum is greater than the parts.

On top of that, we?ve also been quietly designing bikes, P&A, graphics, and promotional material for other bike companies not only in Australia but also in Japan, the US and Europe since 1991.

4) COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

Most companies design to a price point, but we design to a quality level. Regardless of whether you spend gigabucks on a custom titanium and carbon creation or are sensible and get a base model steel frame, our aim is to give you the best possible frame for your hard earned dollar.
It's quality and pride that drives us. We need to know that every frame that goes out the door is as good as we could produce at the time - that's what gets us out of bed in the morning and let's us sleep at night. We'll never say something like 'We produce the best frames and give the best service ever' because that would be ludicrous, but our commitment is to constant improvement and innovation that allows us to raise the quality of what we do without compromising any of our core beliefs.

5) SUSTAINABILITY

For us cycling is a lifestyle, not a 'recreation' or a 'sport'. Cycling for us is also about the environment. Can you imagine some sweet singletrack without any trees, or a magical road ride in permanent gridlock? Of course not. So to that end we use things such as recycled frame boxes and packing materials, and do most of our communication electronically. We don't even have a fax machine.
We also believe in the wealth of knowledge that is a century of framebuilding in the West and we will continue to invest in that. We believe in only recommending complimentary parts and components that give good longevity and value for money, so we'll never recommend parts we've never used or disposable 'vapourware'.
Sustainability and viability couldn't me more important to us, so anything over and above what we already do must also improve the sustainability and viability of not only our business but also the future of cycling as a whole.

That's it in a nutshell. 5 points that make Thylacine Cycles your first stop when it comes to looking for a new custom bike. If you made it this far, frankly you deserve a medal 'coz that's a whole lotta words to wade through!

Now, obviously the above points are just a synopsis or a snapshot of what Thylacine Cycles is. The reality is that it's far more than that, and to that end there is a section of the website - 'Verbage' - dedicated to extended commentary and writings not only expanding on the above points but also adding new elements, such as our philosophies on design, fit, the industry etc. Feel free to check it out if you're in the mood for a good read.